The Yanks Are Coming - Muffins

I've started a new comic strip called, "The Yanks Are Coming." The idea came from reading the comics, Hetalia and Scandinavia and the World. Now I like Scandinavia and the World, (Hetalia....ehhhh, not as much) but despite loving the strip, I feel the writer has the America character all wrong. It's not really Humon's fault.

From a non-American, it's really hard to pin point who we are as a nation. I like to think that the USA is one country divided by fifty states with each state being like a country of its own with its own culture. Sure, there is the under lying current that unites us all as Americans. But being a Navy brat, myself, who moved from state to state, I can truly say that it's very easy to get culture shock within my own country.

And I don't mean a city mouse vs. country mouse sort of way. I mean, going from Hawaii where everyone took off their shoes the moment they came indoors whether they lived there or not to New York where guests never took off their shoes no matter what. (Which to this day still drives me crazy because I have that Hawaiian habit ingrained in me. If you are in someone's house, you take off your shoes, dang it!)

I wanted to do a strip showing those differences. To give a clearer picture that I feel is missing in other strips, The American Perspective.

The title comes form an old WWI battle song called "Over There". (Have a listen here.)I was going to call the strip, "My Country Tis of Thee" but the more that I thought about it, the more "The Yanks are Coming" fits. I love how the song uses what is thought to be a slur, "yanks" and makes it a warning to everyone else. Yes, the "yanks are coming" and you better watch out. Plus, the song is catchy. It will get stuck in your head.

Here is the first strip. Virginia, which is my home state, for it has been the state this military gypsy has stayed in the longest, is dressed like a no nonsense government worker. Virginia has a long military and government history going all the way back before there was a USA. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee were Virginians. Virginia has the largest naval station in the world. It's also home to the CIA and the Pentagon. And this reflected in Virginia, the character, she is disciplined and always on duty. She is like the leader for the rest of the States. The gray streak in her hair is a reflection of Virginia's state nickname, "Old Dominion." The auburn hair came from the fact that Thomas Jefferson was a redhead, himself.

Then we have Massachusetts. An incredibly smart but brash character. Mass, (to her friends) was the home to likes of Sam Adams, John Hancock and John Adams. Thinking men who weren't afraid to voice their opinions no matter if it went against the public's opinion. Here she is as a university student, Harvard, no less, ready to learn and ready to use what she has learned. She is redhead to reflect the strong Irish influence on the state. (Though she is also half Portuguese.)

Then there is Oregon. Most people think of California or New York as the places to taste fancy cuisine. But the truth is Oregon, namely, Portland, is where it's at. There's a huge alternative Foodie craze in that state. It's like SoHo for the cooking set. There you will find everything home grown, organic, free range and every thing else that is on the foodie buzz list. And this also reflects in their dress, where sleeves are tattoos and earlobes are stretched beyond all imagination.

Last but not least, Hawaii. Laid back Hawaii. I lived there as a very young child and the Spam thing that you've heard about is true. We ate it in sandwiches, along pancakes and waffles, with rice, on kebabs, if we could substitute a meat in a recipe, we used Spam for it. Why? Simple. It was cheap. Meat is expensive in Hawaii considering that you can't have vast fields for cattle to graze like Wyoming. So, we ate Spam. To this day, I still love the stuff. Hawaii's look is tricky. I went through four different designs before settling on this one. All of which kept on coming out looking like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch. In the end, I just admitted that it was my style that was doing me in and just kept the look.

And that's the end to one of the longest winded comments that I have ever given.

If you want and I would appreciate, is if you are from the US and are reading this, comment what state you are from and tell me a little about it. I want to get the state characters true to life and need as much impute as possible. Thank you.